Right from the start Hanoi was a shock to the system. The pollution, the danger and chaos of thousands of near suicidal mopeds and the people living their lives out on the street. I thought that after South America, we wouldn't be too surprised by anything we saw, but Hanoi seemed an alien world, and a genuinely Asian experience.

We had organised an airport pick-up through the hotel and it made a welcome change not to have to bargain with taxi drivers. Our hotel, The Rising Dragon Hotel, was conveniently situated in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and felt very luxurious compared to the places we had stayed in so far. After crashing out for a few hours (we had had a three o' clock start in the morning) we ventured out to explore the local area in the afternoon. The first thing we had to get used to was crossing the road when faced with the madness of hundreds of oncoming beeping mopeds (there are four million mopeds in Hanoi alone). Cars are very expensive in Vietnam and so most families tend to have a few mopeds as modes of transport. Everything from the wife and kids, crockery, mirrors, flowers to dogs and goldfish is transported by moped. The traffic flows in all directions, even on one-way roads and on the side walk. Pedestrians are the lowest in the pecking order and have to make sure they don't get hit - which would be their fault under Vietnamese traffic laws.

The Old Quarter is a collection of streets still bearing some of their original guild names and selling for example gold, metalware, paper or herbs etc. Each shopfront extends upwards into a narrow house. In between the shops are little cafes or restaurants selling the traditional noodle soups 'pho' on the sidewalk. Ordering from a menu with no translation was very exciting (with fingers crossed that dog was not on the menu).

Interestingly, after Brazil, Vietnam is one of the biggest coffee exporters. We made some lovely coffee discoveries, although we didn't get a chance to try the famous 'cà phê Chôn' or 'weasel coffee'. The coffee beans pass through the digestive system of a weasel before being harvested!

As the internet situation in New Zealand, Sydney and Bangkok had been so frustrating, we were overjoyed to find free and fast wifi as well as a desktop computer in our hotel room. We therefore decided to sacrifice one day to finally update the blog and plan our route through South East Asia. We also booked two tours through our hotel.

The following day we spent sightseeing. Temperatures had increased which made walking around the bustling, humid, traffic-choked streets uncomfortable but also intriguing, hilarious and occasionally disgusting. Walking past Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum felt surreal and I kept expecting there to be more security.

Our first tour, a three day trip to Ha Long Bay, left early the following day. The four hour drive to the coast was punctuated by a stop at a sculpture shop, which seemed to be on every other tourist bus itinerary. Quite why anyone would want to buy a two tonne statue of a buddha or flying horse just before taking a boat trip is beyond me. Resisting the purchases, we pressed on. Arriving in the harbour we were herded onto our boat and set off for the bay whilst lunch was served. Unfortunately many of the negative reviews we had read about the Ha Long Bay tours were true. The bay, though beautiful, was teeming with other boats and I was saddened by the amount of rubbish floating in the water. Along with all the other tourists we docked at one of the small islands and were led through a big cave. Unfortunately our guide only proceeded to point out cave features which looked like animals or human body parts instead of telling us anything about the history of the cave or the bay. Back on the boat we were ferried across to one of the floating fishing villages and encouraged to take one of the rickety looking kayaks out for a paddle. I had been looking forward to the kayaking but having to watch out for passing ships and floating rubbish was not what I had had in mind. Later that evening, after a fun few hours of trying to fish for squid, the evening reached a low poinr when we discovered an intense urine smell behind our bed and scratching as well as squeaking noises had me convinced that there were rats on board.

The following day started and ended on a much brighter note with a cycle ride to a village on Cat Ba Island and a stay at an island resort. Waking up early on the third day, Chris and I swam to a nearby island. Although the scenery in Ha Long Bay was impressive, this was really the highlight of the trip for me. Shortly afterwards we were whisked back to Ha Long City and Hanoi, with the obligatory tourist stop at another sculpture yard on the way.

After the slightly disappointing trip, the evening ended with a wonderful Water Puppet show, a traditional Vietnamese performance art.

Our second tour, a day trip, was a much more positive experience with a nice group of people and a knowledgeable guide. We were first driven to the ancient Vietnamese capital before travelling on to Tam Coc, an impressive landscape of limestone karsts threaded through with gentle flowing waterways. We took a boat trip down the river, being rowed by a Vietnamese woman able to row with her feet. Back on land we took a cycle-ride to a nearby village. While stopping we suddenly found ourselves the centre of attention of a group of school kids. Chris with his beard was particularly amusing to the locals and everyone wanted photos. It felt a little strange being on the receiving side of the stares, but the kids were lovely.

Sadly that was also our last night in Hanoi. We really enjoyed our stay there. Ho Chi Minh City was the next stop (we had decided to miss out on parts of Vietnam to give ourselves a bit more time in Cambodia and Laos).

*Steph